Personally I expect self-driving cars to solve the unsolved last mile. Most mass transport today relies on the hub and spoke model. Get yourself to the nearest

Personally I expect self-driving cars to solve the unsolved last mile. Most mass transport today relies on the hub and spoke model. Get yourself to the nearest hub where there's efficient, speedy, and frequent transport to another hub, then get from the destination hub to your actual destination. We've got the middle bit solved pretty well. Even the relatively slow, pokey commuter trains are plenty fast compared to driving. The main issue is how to get to/from such hubs. Park and rides are one thing, but parking capacity is always the limiting factor. Park and ride lots fill up fast during rush hour, and their physical space also creates a dead zone around the hub and inhibits local development. The most common last-mile solution today are buses. They suck in a horrible way. IMO in the "self driving cars are universally available" future, we won't see many long-distance trips with cars at all. Instead, the vast majority of trips will be to/from the nearest transport hub where you catch something much faster and much more efficient.